Welcome to the daily chizuk (encouragement). Chag Sameach. The Torah tells us, “It’s a day of staying back.” And Rashi explains, “Hashem is telling us, ‘He wants us to stay with Him for another day.’” Rashi gives the mashal (parable) of a king who invited his sons to feast with him for a certain number of days. When the time came for them to leave, he said, “My sons, please stay with me just one more day. It’s too difficult for me to part with you.” So too, it is with us. We have gotten so close to Hashem over this holiday season, and Hashem wants to keep the closeness. The Midrash (rabbinic teaching) describes this holiday with the pasuk (verse), “On this day, Hashem brings us into His inner chambers.” And He wants us to be happy just with Him. There are no other mitzvot (commandments) that day. There’s no lulav (palm branch). There’s no etrog (citron). There’s just us and Hashem. It’s a day of intentionality. It’s love. And Rav Chaim Palachi brings down from the Zohar, in his Sefer Moed Lechol Chai, that we are so close to Hashem on Shemini Atzeret that any request we make on that day will be granted. So what should we be asking for?
The Midrash on the words Nagila v'Nismecha Bach (Let us rejoice and be glad in You) brings the story of a Jewish woman who was married for many years but had no children. Her husband therefore decided to divorce her. So he went to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and the Rabbi told him, “I understand the situation, but just as you celebrated your marriage with joy, I want you to celebrate its severance with joy.” So the husband made a big party, and in the middle of the party he asked his wife, “I want you to choose whatever one of my possessions you desire. I assure you I will not refuse anything you ask for.” So what did she do? She served him so much wine that he got drunk and fell asleep. She told her servants, “Pick him up and bring him to my father’s house.” Her husband woke up in the middle of the night and said, “Where am I?” She said, “You’re in my father’s house.” He said, “What am I doing here?” She said, “Didn’t you tell me I could take whatever I wanted? Well, I don’t want gold. I don’t want silver. I don’t want gems. I don’t want pearls. All I want is you. There’s nothing more precious in the world to me than you.” When the husband heard this, he became so enamored with her again. He told the Rabbi he wants to keep her and forget about the divorce. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai then prayed for them, and they were blessed with children. The Midrash concludes, “If this is what happens when one person tells another, ‘All I want is you,’ how much more so when we tell Hashem, ‘All we want is you.’”
The root of all our problems in life is that we are missing Hashem. On this day of intense love, we need to tell Hashem, “All we want is you. There’s nothing more important in life than you. We want you in our day-to-day lives. We want a relationship with you.” And when you have Hashem, then you have everything. Have a great day.